Friday 9th November 2018

A number of school Governors, including the Rev. Adam Pawley, joined us this morning for our Remembrance Assembly. The occasion was most thought provoking and we are thankful for the contributions brought by sixth form students. Our poignant readings were brought by Rob and Holly. Elin and Hannah performed a violin duet of ‘Largo’ from the New World Symphony, and Ella performed ‘The Last Post’. Thanks to all who were in attendance.

The return from our half-term break has seen a really busy week in the life of the school. The ‘Crucial Crew’ visited our Year 7 for the day on Wednesday. Each student attended a number of talks and practical sessions brought by the Fire Service, British Transport Police, Food Standards Agency, RNLI and Dogs Trust and students attended further talks on having a positive mindset and the negative impact of both plastic waste and some banned substances. I would like to thank everybody who contributed to the event and made it such a success.

As a school (both staff and students), we are seeking to increase the effectiveness of our approach to homework, particularly in Years 7, 8 and 9. We will soon publish some new guidelines and subject specific information to all parents on this theme, but in the meantime, if you wish to make any observations yourselves, please be so good as to do so through your son’s / daughter’s Organiser. We are very keen to raise the profile of the Students’ Organiser as a means of communication between home and school, and I would encourage all parents / carers to monitor its use and sign it weekly. In a similar fashion, Group Tutors will check the Organiser regularly for any messages you may wish to convey to them and indeed use the Organiser for the same purpose themselves.

Our Sixth Form Food Science students visited The Village Bakery on Wednesday. At this family run business our students learnt about the bread making process and created a range of artisan bread , ciabattas and pizza . This was followed by a factory tour and well done to Cara, Year 12, whose idea for a new bread flavour was deemed to be exceptional. Many thanks to Paul Andrew and Emma Stevens for making the visit so enjoyable and informative.

Congratulations to Tilly, Year 10, who has qualified for the British Dressage Championships competition. This event is open to riders of horses which are native to the British Isles only, and Tilly has high hopes of success.

We would ask all parents to encourage their children to support Meilir, Year 11, in his candidacy for the Welsh Youth Parliment. Meilir seeks to represent the Delyn Consistuency and must obtain sufficient votes to take up one of the 40 seats available throughout Wales. There are currently 480 young people competing against him, and if Meilir is elected as a Welsh Youth Parliament Member, he will serve a two-year term. Registration for voters, who must be aged between 11 and 18, is open on the Youth Parliament website until 16 November. Please follow the link to support and elect Castell Alun’s Meilir to this prestigious position – https://www.youthparliament.wales/

Really well done to Heather and Shannon, both Year 13, who have fought off stiff competition during auditions to become two of the nine dancers hired to join the cast of ‘Wizard of Oz’ for the Christmas season at Storyhouse, Chester.

This professional production is almost sold out already, and who knows where it could take the girls in future! Perhaps they’ll be off to an Emerald City themselves?

Our Year 9 Boys’ Rugby Team continues to go from strength to strength and carded some brilliant wins this week in their games against Argoed, Elfed, Hawarden and Mold Alun. We fully anticipate some of these boys being called up to take the Southern Hemisphere teams in the Autumn Internationals one day!

Very well done to Seren, Year 8, for gaining a place in the first ever Flintshire County School Girls’ Football Team. We are very proud of you Seren.

Looking to next week, our Year 11 students will be busy sitting their Maths exams on Monday and Wednesday. Best of luck to everyone! On Thursday we look forward to meeting a number of you at the Year 13 Parents’ Evening, from 4pm onwards.

And finally, we will support Children in Need on Friday with our customary non-uniform day.